


Flight to Cherry Blossoms

by cadenjg



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Light Angst, Pilots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 21:15:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18725125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadenjg/pseuds/cadenjg
Summary: Lapis Lazuli Riviera is the Captain of American Airlines flight two-five. At 5 A.M, on a scheduled eighteen hour departure from Miami to Tokyo via Dallas, Lapis meets her curious co-pilot named Peridot Olivine. She also shares the company of a second officer named Pearl Rochambeau, and a third officer named Amethyst Valdez. Together, they endure the rigorous hardships of being in the dark about Camp Pining Hearts theories, not getting enough sleep, and desperately needing a better breakfast.Though the stupendously long flight would take a toll on their sanity, these four exhausted pilots just might make it work between themselves.( Lapidot-focused, with some sprinklings of Pearlmethyst. )





	Flight to Cherry Blossoms

Ten hours.

That was how much sleep Lapis Lazuli needed to get last night.

Five hours.

That was how much sleep Lapis Lazuli _could_ have gotten last night.

Instead, what entailed was her watching dumb TV for an hour and a half, then tweeting about the latest Camp Pining Hearts episode. Lapis had acknowledged that she sometimes let her bad habits catch up with her, but she never construed anything like this. Still; there she laid in her bed, browsing wild fan theories about Percy and Pierre's relationship.

A particularly in-depth and outlandish theory, written by one 'skyalien42', hypothesized that it was only a matter of a few episodes before Percy broke it off with Paulette in favor of Pierre. It was filled with exuberant language and enthusiastic paragraphs of the creators thoughts on Pierrecy, the unofficial ship name created by fans. It also, unlike other theories, cited the recruitment of a bisexual storyboard writer named Rebecca Sugar: Which, according to the creator of the theory, served as the indisputable evidence that Pierrecy would happen. Lapis liked and retweeted the post, whilst shooting a reply about how it could probably happen, practically 15% awake at that point.  Gosh, why was she so criminally obsessed with this show?

Lapis let herself drift off into sleep with her phone in her hand, her head falling against the pillow graciously. When she finally fell into a graceful state of unconsciousness, it was 2:08 A.M.

**~**

Lapis' eyes fluttered open what felt like five minutes later. Her initial response was to push her pillow over her head and throw herself back into the entails of sleep, hoping to savor the long-gone luxury of a regular sleeping schedule. Lapis' phone laid by her head, and she debated picking it up or falling unconscious again. Despite her groggy mind wanting to drift off into the lovely canvas of dreamland, Lapis picked up her phone and hit the power button, squinting when the bright light flashed her eyes.

_4:25 A.M_

Lapis threw the covers off her bed and practically catapulted herself awake, feeling a strong wave of nausea come over her from the wooziness. She made a mental note to do a little less binge-tweeting after dark, because she would never hear the end of it if she didn't make it to work in time. Lapis had around forty-five minutes to get ready and get to the airport.

With a false sense of vigor and energy, Lapis threw off her pajamas and changed into her blue, two-piece work uniform. She struggled in the mirror with a black tie for two minutes, before finally settling on just wearing a clip-on. The shoulders of her uniform were bedazzled with four-stripe epaulettes, designating Lapis of her position on the plane she was going to board: _Captain._

Lapis made haste to brush her teeth, toss on some deodorant, and slip on a pair of shoes. She briefly stepped into her room to snag her phone from out of her bed and tuck it into her pocket, cursing the low percentage on it from the night before. Why did she have to be criminally obsessed with Camp Pining Hearts?

Before heading out the door, Lapis grabbed a granola bar and some water from her brightly-lit kitchen. They served breakfast, lunch, and dinner on long flights, but as a precaution Lapis always ate a little something before heading on a flight.

Lapis ran back to the front door, snatched her keys and her captain's hat from a nearby hat-rack, and practically tossed herself outside, munching on the granola bar she grabbed from her kitchen counter. As she opened the drivers side door to her black 2019 Yukon XL Denali, Lapis snatched her phone out of her pocket and took a gander at the time.

_4:37 A.M_

Lapis slid into her car, shut the door next to her, and turned the keys to the ignition.

**~**

When Lapis arrived at the airport, it was 4:49 A.M. She scrambled to get to her gate and into the plane she was flying; an Airbus A321-200. It housed around ~102 seats, cut down due to the transcontinental nature of the flight. When Lapis boarded the mammoth of a craft, the change of pace was immediately noticeable.

Lapis slid the cabin door to Economy Class open, crinkling her nose at the pungent smell of detergent that swarmed the atmosphere. She shuffled past a few tightly knit-together seats, and accidentally bumped her hip into a maintenance cart that sat in the middle of the hallway. Lapis let out a small hiss of pain, rubbing the minuscule sore left in its wake.

But before she could rush to the cockpit, Lapis was suddenly stopped by an over-cheery flight attendant who popped up from behind the maintenance cart.

"Good evening, Captain!" Their high-pitched voice pierced the air, slightly startling Lapis. "I assume that you already know the role that I'll be playing on this flight."

"Purser. Cabin services director, right?" Lapis did a double-take of their figure. They were practically petite in height, but Lapis guessed that they made up for it in bite. The perfect candidate for management.

"Correct! Aquamarine, at your service," They put on a cocky smile, then gestured to behind their back. "These two will be your wonderful attendants for the flight!"

Two women behind Aquamarine poked their heads out from a few seats, both giving Lapis a wave and a big grin. Lapis blinked in surprise. They both looked oddly.. similar.

"Huh."

"They're the Rutile twins!" Aquamarine exaggerated her air expressions for dramatic effect. "They're sisters who both signed up to be flight attendants on the same flight. Isn't that marvelous?"

Lapis nodded, really trying to look interested. Really trying, of course, meaning not at all. With a groggy, incomprehensible murmur of 'thanks', Lapis made her way past Aquamarine and down toward the front of the passenger jet. One of the Rutile twins gave Lapis a thumbs up on her way past. Lapis gave a small smile and returned the gesture and, with a little more energy, she marched down the body of the jet and made it to the door leading to Business class seating.

Another change of tone occurred as Lapis slid the cabin door to Business open. A much more tolerable, refined scent hung in the air. Lapis noticed that, while walking down the body of the jet, she actually had space to walk. Instead of squished, uncomfortable plastic; seats were roomy, lavish, and actually a size meant for a human being. There was a space for one to put their laptop or books on, and it had a very comfy setting to it. If Lapis wasn't in the cockpit 24/7, she'd enjoy sitting in Business class quite warmly.

Lapis speed-walked to the last cabin door, leading to the fabled First Class seats. Only about twenty were on the entire aircraft, and for good reason. The seats were practically their own room, draped into cover by burgundy curtains and with plenty of spacing between them. As Lapis strolled by, she lifted a finger to push aside a curtain and peek inside one of the seats. Sure enough, it represented all the potential qualities of the high life: A large, adjustable leather chair, lots of leg room, and a built-in table for one to place their electronics/food. It was like Business, but amplified by 3.2x the comfort.

Lapis, content in what she saw, made her last walk of the flight. The walk toward the cockpit. Before entering, Lapis momentarily basked in the passenger side of the plane. She'd miss flying commercially as a passenger. Lapis briefly recalls fond memories of visiting other states and, with a sure hand, she swings the last cabin door open.

Lapis does not immediately reach the cockpit. The space in between the cockpit and First Class is denoted by a maintenance room used by flight attendants, a sleeping compartment for pilots, and a few seats flight attendants can buckle into incase there's some heavy turbulence. Lapis takes brief note of the rooms then, more sure this time, she opens the final door and steps into the cockpit. And what she sees is probably the last thing she expected to see, let alone _hear_ when boarding a plane.

"No, agh- you don't _get it!_ " A distraught, brightly blonde woman sat up in the pilots chair, facing opposite of Lapis. She was short with a white complexion, and appeared to be arguing with the much taller, strawberry-blonde woman to her right. "What do I not get? Percy and Paulette are quite obviously the relationship the show is trying to push over." The latter had her hands in her lap, appearing to be much calmer than her accomplice.

The blonde responded simply by groaning and slumping over in the chair, tapping her foot against the ground. "Whatever. Just because the writers are heterosexual _clods_ doesn't mean it should be."

A third woman, standing betwixt the two seats, was spectating the entire ordeal with piqued interest. "Wow. You two are hittin' it off great," They had curled, black hair and looked to be around the same height as the blonde to her left. Their tan skin was highlighted by the sunlight peeking through the window. "I'm sure when the Captain gets here, they're gonna be-"

Lapis cleared her throat.

All three women simultaneously turned around to face Lapis, with both the blonde and her counterpart shooting out of their seats. They faced Lapis like prisoners on death row. A stringed silence culminated in the air, like they were in a soundproof booth at the bottom of the ocean.

The woman with black hair opened her mouth, as if about to say something, however she was swiftly interrupted by the brightly blonde woman storming to the front of Lapis.

"Good morning, Captain." She surveyed Lapis for a moment, then- with blatantly false confidence, extended her hand. "My name is Peridot Olivine, but Peridot works just fine," She cleared her throat. "I'll be your First Officer for this flight."

Up close, Lapis noticed the more distinct features of this woman. For example; she had beady, black eyes that were emphasized by the freckles that dotted her cheeks. Her blonde hair was professionally swiveled into a triangular shape, and seemed to be taken care of quite exquisitely. Lapis wondered what steps she took to keep it in such tip-top condition.

Lapis took their hand into her own with a firm shake. "Lapis Lazuli. I'd love to speak about Camp Pining Hearts; however, we have some pre-flight parameters we need to run over."

"R-right." Lapis could've sworn she saw a tint of color dance across their cheeks, maybe even a small smile painted across their face; but they turned too quickly for Lapis to discern. Whatever it was, it brought an odd warmth to Lapis' chest, even going as far as to tug the corners of her mouth into a tiny smirk. As Peridot shuffled away from the exchange to sit in the co-pilots chair, Lapis averted her gaze to the two remaining pilots in the room. Both stood dead quiet during the entire ordeal, and faced Lapis center console. Lapis raised an eyebrow.

"Firstly, I'd like to familiarize myself with my crew. I already met the attendants," Lapis clicked her tongue, then crossed her arms as if she were pondering things over. "Now I just need to meet my pilots." A moment of silence passed, then another, before Lapis turned to the strawberry-blonde on her left. "What's your name?"

They, quite literally, snapped to attention, with their hands by their sides and their features stressed. "Pearl! Pearl Rochambeau," They made eye contact with Lapis, a smirk blooming across their face in the process. "Second Officer of American Airlines Flight Two-Five!" She exaggerated, a dusty blush crossing her face.

Lapis chuckled. Okay, she _had_ to smile at that. "Pleasure to be flying with you."

Pearl nodded, her smile lingering for a little longer than needed, before she turned to face the front of the cockpit. Lapis directed her attention to the last woman on her right. It took her six seconds to snap out of whatever daze she was in, "Hey. The name's Amethyst, Amethyst Valdez." She placed her hand on her hip, then used her other to shoot a finger gun at Lapis. "The smokin' cool Third Officer of this joint."

Lapis rolled her eyes, despite the smile that tugged at her mouth. "I'll enjoy your company."

"Oh, you will," Amethyst clicked her tongue. "I'll make sure of it." She blew off the tip of her finger gun, then placed it back into its make-believe holster. 

Lapis shrugged, then shuffled to the middle of the cockpit. She clapped her hands together to grab everyone's attention. **  
**

"Right," She took a second to compose herself. "If I recall, we're doing a one-stop departure from Miami International to Tokyo Haneda.. via Dallas, correct?"

They collectively nodded.

"Perfect. Now.." Lapis let her hands fall to her side.

".. let's run some pre-flight parameters."

**~**

The next hour and a half passed surprisingly quickly. Lapis, Peridot, Pearl, and Amethyst laid out the flight path in all of it's detail; highlighting a stormy weather forecast for Tokyo. A little bit alarming, nothing that called for a delayed flight or an emergency however. Lapis temporarily worried about updrafts, but calmed herself with the realization that _every_ flight has to worry about updrafts.

Lapis signed flight releases alongside her three co-workers, and now it was left to running the final questions: The 'Before-Takeoff' checklist. At this point, passengers have already boarded the plane and have sat in their seats, and Lapis silently hopes Aquamarine isn't too bossy for the lovely flight personnel there.

"Engine, confirm idle." Peridot's voice scanned over the checklist, with her sitting in the co-pilot's seat and Lapis sitting in the Captain's seat.

Lapis' eyes darted toward the throttle. "Idle."

Peridot nodded. "Flaps as required?"

"Flaps-" Lapis peered out of the cockpit window, squinting as the rising sunlight scorched the runway. "as required."

"Good," Peridot tucked the checklist atop the dashboard. "Fasten seatbelts."

Lapis fastened her seatbelt and shoulder harnesses, with Peridot doing the same. Pearl and Amethyst moved to the pilots' rest compartment, complying likewise.

Leaving Peridot and Lapis alone together.

"Parking brake is off," Lapis mastered the art of soliloquy; to speak one's thoughts. Not great for social situations, but a very important trait to have as a pilot. "Doors and windows are locked, strobes are on, transponder running." She looked over at Peridot. "Did I miss anything?"

Peridot cocked her eyebrow. "Engine instruments?"

Lapis mentally smacked herself. "Checked."

A devious smirk tugged at the corners of Peridot's lips, ticking Lapis off slightly. She moved her attention toward the outside of the plane and then, with her best professional tone, Lapis pressed the push-to-talk button on her headset. "Before-takeoff checklist complete, requesting taxi for runway 22R via 8L, American 25."

A voice crackled through the other end of her headset. _"Roger: American 25, cleared for taxi to runway 22R via 8L, then line up and wait, advise when holding short."_

"Cleared for taxi to Runway 22R via 8L; line up and wait, advise when holding short, American 25."

Lapis applied the throttle.

**~**

The aircraft was at a halt at the front of the runway, the last aircraft having taken off ten minutes ago. The 'fasten seatbelts' sign was put on about three minutes ago. Now, all they had to do was wait. Fun.

"Do you think Percy will realize his mistakes and leave Paulette?" Peridot broke the silence to speak, more to herself than her associate Captain.

Lapis offered a disheveled chuckle. "Hopefully," She adjusted her position in the chair. "Or there will be riots in Gaysville."

Peridot reciprocated with a hearty snicker. "Yes!" She exclaimed in agreement. "Those writers don't understand how it works, let alone their compatibility," Peridot gripped her joystick tightly. "Buncha queer-baiting, trash pieces of-"

 _"American 25, runway 22L cleared for takeoff."_ The voice startled Peridot, almost making her jump out of her seat if it weren't for the seatbelts. Lapis burst into laughter, having to cover her mouth with her hand to try and compose herself. Peridot cried in mock hurt at first, before eventually joining her in the sea of exuberance; her nasally giggles piercing the air beautifully.

Lapis shakily pressed the red push-to-talk button, attempting desperately to calm herself down.

"Cleared for-" Lapis quickly withdrew her hand from the push-to-talk button, a snort escaping her lips. This only prompted Peridot to laugh harder, keening over in her chair and placing her left hand on her knee.

_"American 25, say again?"_

Lapis finally contained her entertainment down to a manageable size. She smacked Peridot's thigh to get her to stop laughing and then, with a dumb smile on her face, Lapis pressed the push-to-talk button.

"Cleared for takeoff runway 22L, American 25, over." Lapis enunciated, then let go of the key. She scooted over a little to the right, then flicked Peridot's shoulder.

Peridot gasped. "Evil!"

"Only karma." Lapis stuck her tongue out.

They both laughed, a beautiful song in the air, then turned their attention toward the runway in front of them. The morning sun rose to the east, glaring off the right side of the aircraft. It peaked through the cockpit window ever so slightly, giving a vibrant hue to the mind of the aircraft.

With a slight sense of trepidation, Lapis gave out the call: "Full throttle." Lapis pulled back on both throttles, the engine of the aircraft purring awake.

"Full throttle." Peridot repeated. The jet, at first, took it's time to wake up. Then, it came alive, powering forward to eighty-knots an hour. 100 knots. 125 knots. 140 knots.

"Instruments are looking good," Peridot observed aloud. "Let's start pulling up."

Lapis nodded. "Affirmative."

At 225 knots an hour, Lapis pulled the flight stick gently yet firmly toward her body, careful not to be too sudden. It took about three seconds before the craft's nose tipped skyward, and before long, American Airlines flight two-five was in the air.

The aircraft quickly climbed altitude, the altimeter intricately dictating their exact ascent.

Eighty feet. 125 feet. 200 feet.

American Airlines 025 had successfully taken off, almost hitting its departure time perfectly, at 7:02 A.M.

"Gear up, please." Lapis pushed the nose of the aircraft down just a little, as Peridot nodded and pushed the lever controlling the gear upwards.  "Gear up." Peridot repeated.

Lapis withdrew her left hand from the flight stick to tap her thigh lightly, soaking into the scene of the passing landscapes beneath the jet. The nose of the aircraft soared toward the clouds, and it wouldn't be long before this view of Miami was consumed by the skies above: So, Lapis decided to savor the moment while it lasted.

"Positive rate," Peridot announced, referring to their rate-of-climb. "We're all good."

Lapis' look didn't falter, her trailing gaze intricately examining her surroundings. The sunlight beamed off of the top of suburban housing, gleaming and glistening in the distance, drifting further and further away from the aircraft. Tranquility flowed throughout her body as Lapis took in the fine details of the landscape, and when it all came together, Lapis felt a true sense of serenity.

"Yeah," Lapis replied, almost too quiet to be heard. "We are."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So, this is what I've been working on for the past few weeks instead of Hypothermia and Lethargy. Not to worry: I'm still doing Hypothermia and Lethargy, I just wanted to get this out of the way first. Hope you enjoy the sappy engagements of these four poor souls trapped on this hell-flight, brought to you by yours truly. Personal shout out to the Lapidot Cafe, Bismuth's Forge, and the Steven Universe RP Hub discords for offering their advice and support for me while I was writing this. Let me know what you think of the chapter in the comments below! 
> 
> -cadenjg


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